US officials welcomed the first wave of white South African refugees to the United States on Monday
59 individuals, mainly families with children, arrived at Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C., under a new refugee program established by Donald Trumps executive order signed in February.
President Trump has offered them a safe haven from what he described as “genocide.”
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The government in Pretoria has denied Trump’s claims that it is discriminating against the country’s white minority or condoning attacks on farmers of European descent.
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RT reports: Pretoria has drawn international attention since passing a controversial law in January permitting the expropriation of land, most of which is owned by white farmers, without compensation.
State Department officials welcomed 59 individuals – including small children – at an airport hangar outside Washington, DC. “I want you all to know that you are really welcome here and that we respect what you have had to deal with these last few years,” said Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau. He added, “Many of these folks have experience with threatening invasions of their homes, their farms, and a real lack of interest or success of the government in doing anything about this situation.”
The US had previously granted asylum to 54 Afrikaners – the descendants of Dutch colonists – who make up about 7% of South Africa’s population.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump reaffirmed his commitment to fast-track naturalization for white South Africans. “Because they’re being killed, and we don’t want to see people be killed,” Trump said. “It’s a genocide that’s taking place that you people don’t want to write about, but it’s a terrible thing that’s taking place.”
He also accused the media of remaining silent about what he called a campaign against white farmers, saying, “If it were the other way around, that would be the only story they’d talk about.”
Trump’s claims of a “white genocide” in South Africa were echoed by his ally, billionaire Elon Musk, who was born in Pretoria.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa dismissed Trump’s allegations as “completely false.” Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola stated, “There is no data at all that backs that there is persecution of white South Africans, or white Afrikaners in particular, who are farmers.”
The South African government has framed its land expropriation measures as a means of addressing apartheid-era disparities in land ownership.
Presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya stated that the state “may not expropriate property arbitrarily or for a purpose other than… in the public interest.”